AN: Hey guys! Wow it really has been a while hasn't it? I hope you are all doing well? I am sorry it has taken so long to get this chapter out to you. This past year and a half I have worked harder than I thought was possible, working in a hospital during the pandemic hasn't just been physically exhausting but mentally too. And even though I have had the best intentions to continue writing, I've barely made it past eating my dinner before I'm asleep! But I am trying my best to fight back and bring this story and the universe back. Truth is I miss it!
This chapter will seem short compared to some of my others, but I needed to just get back into it after being away so long. So I'm sorry if it's a bit rusty! Hopefully you can enjoy it for what it is :-) There is so much more to come with this story!
The Life We Deserve
Chapter 5 - In Deep Water
The water of the Hawkins Community Pool shone with a turquoise shimmer underneath the beating summer sun. Small waves were created as children and adults alike splashed and swam in the large pool.
The water was mainly occupied by members of the Wheeler, Harrington, Byers and Henderson families. Steve and Dustin were having a race on two inflatable water floats they had stolen off the twins. The image of the two grown men racing a Unicorn and Flamingo would stick with Grace and Lily who insisted that the men now keep the floats.
James, Zach, Sam, Ben and Tyler Harrington were playing around the pool, as soon as the lifeguard was distracted, they dived into the water, doing cannonballs and splashing Will and Jen who were sitting on the edge of the swimming pool trying to eat their ice cream.
Laura and El were on sun loungers watching Steve and Dustin's race with amusement just as Mike climbed out of the pool and made his way over to the girls. His dark hair stuck to his eyelashes causing him to push it back, distracting El enough from the race to give her husband a cheeky eyebrow wiggle and smirk over his attractive form. He blushed but smiled smugly as he took the lounger next to his wife.
Mike dried himself off and started looking for the sun cream, but El beat him to it, wiggling the lotion to grab his attention. "I'll do your shoulders and back if you'd like?" she said sweetly, making Mike snort with laughter.
"As if I would ever deny you that privilege."
El grinned knowing that Mike was teasing, but she wasn't about to deny that she didn't mind massaging the cream into her husband's broad shoulders.
Mike sat on the edge of El's sun lounger and she shuffled closer to him, her legs either side of him as she started to smooth the coconut smelling cream into his pale warm skin.
Mike relaxed into her touch, his eyes closed and his lips curved into a smile as El's hands moved across his back and shoulders, the action not only soothing but intimate too. She took her time, her touch against his skin making Mike's heart race.
"Done," El grinned, pressing a kiss to his cheek.
Mike couldn't hide the disappointment in his sigh that applying the sun lotion hadn't taken that long. He looked over his shoulder at his wife and smiled, his eyes flickering over her beautiful face.
"We need a night out soon."
El smirked, leaning in to whisper in Mike's ear. "Don't you mean a night in? I'm sure the kids would be more than happy to stay over at their friends' houses..."
Mike raised his eyebrow, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Sounds like a plan to me. Can we make it tonight?"
El laughed, winking at her husband. She settled back onto the lounger and watched as Mike covered his arms in the lotion and his chest. She frowned when he put the lotion away without putting any on his legs.
"You're going to get sunburnt," she commented as Mike lay on the sun bed next to her.
"No," he yawned, stretching out his tall body. "My legs never tan."
El rolled her eyes, putting her sunglasses on. "Whatever you say honey."
Ivy tapped her fingers on her thigh as she listened to her ipod, Get Lucky by Daft Punk and Pharrell Wiliams playing in her ears as she closed her eyes and felt the warm rays of the sun span across her skin.
With the funky music pulsing through her it was easy to drown out the sound of her brothers, family and friends playing in the water, shouting and laughing as they acted like children, while Ivy lay on a sun lounger trying to tan her pale skin.
It was two days since the party, and even though Ivy hadn't been that drunk it all felt such a blur. She remembered dancing, she remembered feeling jealous when Kimberley Kelly hit on Ryan. But more than anything, she couldn't stop thinking about what happened after the party.
Ivy couldn't stop giggling. The adrenaline still ran through her veins from a perfect night spent out with her best friends. She clung onto Ryan as he piggy backed her up the stairs and to her bedroom. Her arms wrapped loosely around his neck as she nestled her chin on his broad shoulder and snorted with humour, the alcohol she had drunk that night still swirling through her veins.
"You're like the pony I always wanted!"
Ryan sniggered, shaking his head in amusement as he nudged Ivy's bedroom door open with his foot. "Neigh!" he teased making Ivy burst out laughing.
"Okay, okay," Ryan smiled, more entertained by Ivy's hyperness than anything else. "It wasn't that funny!"
"You're hilarious," Ivy grinned, still giggling to herself as Ryan stumbled over her discarded outfit choices for the party that still lay on the floor where she had left them.
"No," Ryan said, turning away from Ivy's bed so that he could lower her from his back and onto the mattress. "You are the hilarious one and you know it."
Ivy reluctantly let go of him and landed onto her duvet with only a slight bounce. Ryan turned to look at her and exhaled a deep breath, his warm eyes flickering slowly over her face. "I had a great time tonight."
Ivy couldn't stop smiling as she looked up at Ryan. The night had been wonderful and he was the reason. She wanted to tell him how she felt, but she knew this wasn't the moment. She was tired, her eyelids drooping; the lateness of the night, the comfort of her bed and the alcohol in her system making a perfect cocktail for a heavy sleep.
"Thank you for coming," Ivy sighed happily, her exhale becoming a yawn as she lowered herself properly onto her bed and nuzzled her face into the pillow, which she knew she would regret in the morning when it was imprinted with makeup.
Ryan grinned, and without a second thought, pulled the duvet up over Ivy's body, tucking the comforter around her. She could feel herself falling to sleep just as easily as she had fallen in love.
"Thank you for inviting me," he whispered, knowing that she was already drifting off.
She was barely conscious, but used the last of her energy to reach out for Ryan's hand. It felt so warm, so suited with her own, their fingers entwining like the perfect jigsaw piece.
"Thank you for being born," she slurred out before her tiredness swept her away.
Ivy frowned, reaching up to rub her temple as she tried to remember if she had simply dreamt something as embarrassing as thanking Ryan for being born, or if that had actually happened. Her cheeks blushed even at the thought of saying something so stupid to him.
Ryan hadn't said anything about it, but that didn't mean he wasn't just waiting for the right time to tease her. He could be like that sometimes. Ivy grabbed her phone, her heart racing slightly as she started to type out a message to him.
Ivy: When are you getting here?
She couldn't deny she was impatient to see him. The day after the party everyone seemed to be worse for wear and had pyjama day's with their respective families. Ivy hated to admit it, but she still enjoyed making a blanket fort in the living room with her brothers and parents, slobbing out and watching movies. Yesterday had been a Disney marathon, which James had complained about, but Ivy still caught him laughing at Maximus the horse from Tangled.
Ivy's phone vibrated, pulling her back to reality as she hurried to view the message.
Ryan: Soon :-P
Ivy couldn't help but roll her eyes and huffed out an exasperated breath as she quickly typed a response.
Ivy: When is soon?!
Ryan: Webster's defines soon as 'in a prompt manner'.
Ivy: Define asshole.
Ryan: Do you really want me to define that?
Ivy: *rolling eyes emoji*
Ryan: My mom is on a two day hangover, so everyone's moving a little slowly. But don't worry, we're bringing lunch if that's what you're concerned about ;-)
Ivy hesitated, wanting to say 'it's not the food I'm waiting for' but stopped herself. Heat prickled at her skin as she thought about how close she was to telling Ryan how she felt. It was a moment she had thought about since she was a little girl. She wanted it to be perfect, like something out of a fairytale. There would be romantic music playing softly, fairy lights twinkling and maybe a candle or two; and definitely no screaming brothers around, causing chaos as they play-fought in the public swimming pool. Okay maybe it wouldn't be perfect, but she wanted it to just be the two of them. No distractions.
"Have you seen the lifeguard?" Grace awed, suddenly appearing next to Ivy with her twin sister.
"No," Ivy laughed, looking up and trying to see who her cousins were gawping at. The twins sat on the lounger next to her and leaned in to gossip just as Ivy spotted the man in question.
He had short blonde hair, seemed quite tall with fairly pale skin and was walking towards the lifeguard post, taking over from Eddie West who looked like he might have fallen asleep on the red plastic chair. Ivy could see where the twins were coming from with their gasps, he was clearly attractive. But Ivy shrugged, he definitely wasn't her type. What did surprise her though was how familiar he was.
"Is there anywhere he doesn't work?" Lily whispered; her eyes wide with intrigue as she watched the older teenager swap with Eddie.
"I've definitely seen him at the movies," Grace added, eyeing him up.
A memory clicked in Ivy's head and she gasped, "Oh! I think I saw him in the grocery store."
"Yep," Lily smiled, "that was where we first saw him."
"His name is Tristan," Grace whispered before turning to Ivy with a teasing grin. "Do you think he gives Ryan a run for his money?"
Ivy laughed, shaking her head. "No he doesn't. Not in my opinion anyway."
The twins looked at each other, sharing an expression that practically screamed 'Ivy and Ryan are so cute!'
Ivy blushed, averting her eyes and thankful for the arrival of Chloe who waved at the girls from the poolside entrance. She walked in with her mom Robin who was holding extra supplies from the store.
"Hey honey! Honey!" Steve shouted from the pool, waving his hand frantically at Robin from where he still sat on the unicorn float. "What do you think?"
His loud shouting brought to everyone's attention the new arrivals, and Ivy watched as Chloe quickly averted her eyes from James who turned his head sharply to stare over at her. He looked away almost as quickly, as if he hadn't just eagerly lifted his head and wasn't now blushing. Ivy narrowed her eyes and watched her brother for a moment. She was on to him.
Robin paused to turn and look at her husband, her eyebrow raising in mild surprise by his current water float. She smirked and shouted, "I've never seen you look so good!"
Steve laughed and paddled the unicorn to the edge of the swimming pool to greet his wife while Chloe made a beeline for Ivy and the twins.
"Hi guys," she said with a smile as she put down her shopping bag on the concrete floor beside Ivy's sun lounger.
"Hey Chloe," Lily, Grace and Ivy said in unison, making them all grin with amusement. Ivy was sure they were more like triplets than cousins.
"Did you get anything good?" Grace asked eagerly, her blue eyes wandering over the bag while Lily had gone back to staring at Tristan the lifeguard.
"Yeah," Chloe smiled, routing through the bag and handing the girls snacks and magazines. She pulled out a particular glossy magazine that made Ivy raise her eyebrow and laugh.
"I'm surprised that your mom let you buy Cosmo!"
Chloe blushed and averted her eyes for a moment, "I um...I might have said it was for you…"
The twins laughed and Ivy rolled her eyes but didn't object any further, taking the magazine off Chloe so she could at least keep up with appearances. Chloe settled down on the same sun lounger and lay with Ivy, both girls turning the pages of Cosmo and giggling now and again at some of the stories.
After the twins had decided to go and have a swim, Ivy offered the right earphone of her ipod. "Want to listen to some music?"
"Sure," Chloe beamed, settling back slightly as she put in the earphone.
Ivy wandered through her music and put on songs that she already knew Chloe liked, which was mainly One Direction and Justin Bieber.
"Show you off! Tonight I wanna show you off!" They sang and bobbed their shoulders along to the Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj hit.
"We're gonna party like it's 3012 tonight, I wanna show you all the finer things in life. So just forget about the world, we young tonight. I'm coming for ya, I'm coming for ya!"
"I honestly don't get why people have such a problem with the Biebs," Ivy commented as she tapped her foot to the music. "He's got a great voice!"
Before Chloe could respond there was a sniggered "yeah right" making them both look up. James had stopped in front of them, a beach ball in his hands, Sam eagerly waiting for him to chuck it back into the pool.
Chloe immediately tensed up and looked down at the magazine, trying to pretend she wasn't affected by the arrival of the boy she was clearly crushing on.
Ivy looked at her brother and exhaled a bored sigh, "no one asked your opinion, okay? So why don't you go back to the baby pool."
James glared at his sister, his cheeks going slightly pink. Ivy was amazed that he even seemed embarrassed, he wasn't usually present enough in the moment to even get that he was being teased.
"He's rubbish. When you compare him to like the greats, he's like a tiny fish in a big pond - "
Ivy had only opened her mouth to respond when Chloe said harshly, "you're just jealous."
It was one of those moments when everything goes quiet for a moment. Ivy was amazed that Chloe had said something, let alone disagreeing with the boy she had chased after since she was tiny. But James looked even more stunned and if it was possible, he had gone even more pink than before. Ivy couldn't help the smile that was twitching onto her lips.
James spluttered for words for a moment, shuffling from one foot to the other. "W-What? Why...why would I be jealous of him?"
Chloe shrugged, her face tight and dismissive as she turned the page of Cosmo magazine. "Maybe because he is more talented than you will ever be."
Ooh burn! Ivy thought looking between Chloe and James. Her brother opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again. Sam was still shouting for him to throw the damn ball and it seemed to bring James out of whatever cloud of confusion that had shrouded him. He shook his head, like he was clearing his thoughts and then turned away, throwing the ball to Sam and then jumping back into the water. Ivy was surprised steam hadn't risen from the pool considering how red James had become.
She waited for him to be out of earshot before turning to Chloe with a look of amazement. It took a moment for the younger teen to look away from the magazine and meet Ivy's expression.
"What?" Chloe asked awkwardly, her green eyes already telling Ivy that the battle within had simmered down for now.
"What do you mean 'what'?" Ivy laughed, making Chloe's serious face falter slightly. "So I'm guessing you're going down the route of playing hard to get?"
Chloe grinned but didn't say anything for a moment. She eventually shrugged, "I don't know. I just...I had to defend Justin you know?"
Ivy smirked but nodded solemnly. "I understand."
Chloe exhaled a deep breath, her eyes betraying her for a moment as she watched James. He didn't look back at the girls but it was very obvious something was wrong with him. His jaw seemed so tight it might snap any moment and his shoulders looked so tense that his muscles were probably in pain.
"I don't think he likes me anyway. There's no playing hard to get needed…"
Ivy looked at Chloe, surprised by her response. "I don't think that's true," she said earnestly, also taking a moment to look at her brother. "I think he likes you. I mean, I actually don't think he realises it yet. But yeah, there's just something about this situation that tells me it isn't the end yet."
"You think?" Chloe asked, looking annoyed at herself for not being able to keep the longing out of her voice. She might pretend that this was just a crush, but it didn't take long to understand it was so much more than that.
Ivy nodded, looking back at Chloe and giving her an encouraging smile. "I do yeah. So don't give up Miss Harrington! If you think my brother is worth it, just be your beautiful self and he'll eventually see what he's been missing."
Chloe seemed to perk up slightly and that was all Ivy needed to see. She had always wanted a sister but had at least been blessed with female cousins to grow up with. Ivy counted Chloe like family and wondered if maybe one day she legally would be. If a certain brother realised how perfect she would be for him of course!
"Can you please drive a bit slower," Max grumbled to her husband. The sunglasses obscuring her face not hiding the sheer queasiness she was feeling as she attempted to curl into a ball in the passenger seat.
"I'm trying," Lucas sighed, his hands tightening on the steering wheel. "But I can't avoid all the bumps."
"Please try harder," Max responded, massaging her temple with her fingers.
Zach sniggered from the back seat, shaking his head. "Mom you always say you're never going to drink again."
"And your night out was two days ago," Ryan added with a smirk.
"Yes, I know that," Max snapped, huffing with frustration at the lack of sympathy from her boys. "You just wait until your hungover and need your dear mommy to look after you! You'll be lucky if I give you a bucket."
The boys all laughed making Max's lips twitch slightly in a smile. She turned to Ryan, "can I have a burger please?"
"Sure," Ryan grinned, digging his hand into one of the large brown bags filled with warm and mouthwatering burgers from Benny's. He passed one of the foil covered delights to his mom who wolfed down the meal like it was her first in a month.
"Are you going to be okay at the pool?" Lucas asked Max, glancing at his wife with concern.
"I'll be fine," Max nodded as she took a sip of water. "I just need to load up on the carbs and get a bit of fresh air."
Ryan watched his parents for a moment and smiled, his mind drifting off as he thought about how Ivy had been after the high school party. It was strange seeing her tipsy like that, but he would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy looking after her. And the things she came out with were hilarious, especially when she thanked him for being born. Ryan almost snorted with amusement as he remembered that moment, he wondered if Ivy had any idea she had said that.
"Here we are," Lucas called as he looked for a space in the small parking lot for the community pool.
"I swear it hasn't changed a bit," Max commented as she looked out of the window.
Once Lucas had pulled up, Zach and Ryan managed to get out of the car whilst holding the bulging bags of burgers and fries. Lucas on the other hand got stuck helping Max out of the car, trying not to smile as she groaned and muttered that she meant it this time, she was never drinking again.
"We'll see about that," Ryan muttered to Zach who laughed, both of them looking back at their mom who was insistent on keeping her sunglasses on.
The moment the Sinclair's walked through the entrance and onto the wet concrete floor, there was a shout from a very excited Dustin. "Guys! They're here! The food is here!" His exclamation was followed by a cheer from the boys in the pool and Ryan and Zach immediately found themselves surrounded by hungry teenagers and middle-aged men. In fact, it almost looked like Sam and Dustin were fighting over a burger, whilst Laura rolled her eyes and got in the middle, pulling out two burgers and stuffing them in her husband and son's faces.
"Ooh these look good," came Ivy's voice from behind Ryan, making him jump slightly as she appeared by his side, her attention on the bags while Ryan's eyes had widened, his own attention solely on her.
She was wearing a navy blue high waisted bikini, the bikini bottoms covering up to her belly button, but not missing the smooth lines of her upper stomach. Ryan didn't know what to think of the bikini top, all he knew was he was blushing and suddenly felt red hot. He prayed Ivy couldn't feel the heat that was pouring off his skin and instead tried to take a very subtle step away from her, hoping it just looked like he was letting her get closer to the food.
It worked of course, Ivy moved forward and had her hands in the bag, pulling out a portion of fries and a burger while Ryan tried to look anywhere but at her bikini from the back, especially when she bent for her food. He felt suddenly helpless, looking anywhere else.
He was seventeen, Ivy was seventeen. He couldn't pretend he didn't notice the way she had developed, how that young female body had changed over the years and was now a young woman's body. Beautiful, soft curves, smooth skin that he begged to touch…
"Are you not going to eat anything?" Ivy asked, half way through her burger as she returned to Ryan's side.
Shit. I actually have to remember how to speak. "Er…um y-yeah. Of course I am," he tried to say in a laugh that sounded more like a strangled cough as he grabbed his own food.
Ivy smiled at Ryan and ushered him over to where she had set herself up on one of the sun loungers. She lay back down gracefully, all the while munching on her food. Ryan was not as elegant as he practically collapsed onto the lounger beside Ivy. They both laughed at his clumsiness and for a moment settled into a comfortable silence as they ate.
After a while Ivy looked over at Max and smiled, turning to Ryan. "How is your mom doing?"
Ryan was grateful for the distraction, he was trying desperately to clear his mind, praying that Ivy or possibly worse, her mom couldn't read his thoughts. Needless to say, Mike would be drowning him in the swimming pool right about now.
"She's suffering alright," he laughed, shaking his head disapprovingly. "I don't get why she drinks that much on a night out if she's going to suffer for days."
Ivy grinned, "that's your mom though. She's the wild one! I love her for that."
Ryan smiled, looking over at his mom who was lying down beside the pool eating fries. "In a way so do I", he couldn't help but admit. She certainly was a fun mom, but at the same time she had a soft side, especially for her boys. Ryan knew he could always turn to her; she always had his back.
"All our parents are a bit crazy," Ivy admitted with a sigh as she looked over at Mike and shook her head. "Take my dad for instance. He always burns and yet he hasn't put any sun cream on his legs. You just wait…a few hours and he's going to look like a lobster."
Ryan laughed, his brown eyes finding Mike for a moment who had a strained look on his face as he tried to make some order over the food and the hungry teenage boys.
"Your mom isn't crazy," Ryan reasoned looking back at Ivy who smiled.
"No, she's just gifted."
"And so are you," Ryan smiled, bringing his knees up to his chest and resting his arms on his legs. He looked at Ivy and caught her in a shy smile, his heart immediately fluttered as he stared at her. Powers or no powers she was magical.
Ivy's smile wavered slightly as she heaved a sigh, her shoulders rising and falling as she looked out at the water. "It's not easy having these powers. I always have to be mindful about them. But sometimes…if I'm feeling a certain way, they just happen. It's hard to control."
"Have you spoken to your mom about it?" Ryan asked with concern, Ivy having his full attention.
She shrugged, looking over at her mom. "I have in the past…I don't know. I don't want to make her feel guilty or something. Like I wouldn't have these powers if it wasn't for her."
"That's true," Ryan reasoned before smiling slightly. "But they are a part of you and a part of your mom. If anyone knows how to control them or knows what it's like to live with them, then it's her. I'm pretty sure if she knew you were struggling with any aspect of your powers then she would want you to come to her."
Ivy looked at Ryan and grinned teasingly "you're so wise aren't you".
Ryan laughed, pretending to write on his hand, "I will add wise to my list of compliments from Ivy. It can go next to 'being born'."
Ivy gasped and laughed, reaching out to playfully hit Ryan who ducked just in time. "I didn't think you'd heard that!"
He grinned, finding it hard to speak from laughing. "It was a little hard to miss!" He smirked and put a hand on his chest. "I never knew you felt this way," he said dramatically.
"Respect your elders!" Ivy teased pointing her finger at her best friend who snorted.
"You know you're only 5 weeks older than me, right?"
"That's still a month older than you Mr Sinclair."
"Okay Miss Cougar," Ryan teased while Ivy glared at him playfully, but she didn't say anything in retaliation except to throw a fry at him, which he caught and ate, a big grin on his face.
"I don't understand why we always have to clean up after the gremlins," Ivy huffed an hour later as she and Ryan picked up the foil wrappers and empty cans while James, Ben, Zach and Sam lay next to the pool in food comas.
"It's because we're the oldest ones," Ryan sighed, rolling his eyes. "We're the responsible ones."
"I wish we were treated like we're responsible," Ivy laughed. "We're only responsible when it comes to chores. I feel like Cinderella!"
Ryan grinned to himself as he picked up Ivy's discarded flip flop. "Here's your glass slipper princess."
Ivy smirked and took it off him, chucking it back on her sun lounger before emptying the rubbish into the trash can.
"Thanks for cleaning up," came a third voice, making both Ryan and Ivy look up as the life guard who had been walking past, paused and smiled at Ivy. Not Ryan, just Ivy.
"Kids usually leave a load of crap. So it's nice someone actually cares," he smiled.
"Well, we've got to care about the planet," Ivy smiled back politely.
The lifeguard nodded in agreement and then reached out his hand to shake. "I'm Tristan by the way."
Ivy looked awkwardly at his hand for a moment but then her lips curved and her manners took over, shaking his hand as she said "I'm Ivy."
"Ivy," Tristan repeated, still holding her hand while Ryan looked between the teenagers, heat rising in his stomach. "That's a beautiful name."
The heat in Ryan's stomach bubbled up and he felt a streak of jealously wash over him. He gritted his teeth as he watched Ivy take her hand out of Tristan's.
"Thanks," she smiled. "Um…nice to meet you."
"You too, maybe I'll see you around." Tristan said, giving her one last grin before walking off. Ryan watched him go, his eyes narrowing slightly as he noticed Tristan look back at Ivy once more before switching with the next life guard.
Ryan didn't know how to feel. Ivy wasn't just the best person he had ever met; she was also extremely attractive. He knew other guys must act like this around her, but something about that guy unsettled him. Was it the way he had held her hand a little too long or the way he had totally blanked Ryan?
"Are you okay?" came Ivy's concerned voice making Ryan jump. He didn't realize he had still been staring at where Tristan had just left.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Ryan said slightly startled as he turned back to Ivy, not quite looking her in the eye and feeling incredibly awkward. He couldn't be mad at her, she hadn't done anything wrong. She was just her polite, lovely self. She didn't flirt with that guy, she didn't lead him on or be overfriendly but Ryan couldn't shake the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"Ryan!" Zach shouted over from the other side of the pool. "We're gonna play a game of chicken!"
Ryan sighed in relief, he had never been so grateful in his entire life for his brother and his interruption. That was all he needed, a bit of competitive normality with the group to ease whatever queasiness he had suddenly experienced.
"Okay, so let's figure out partners," Sam said to the group of teens who were all now in the pool.
"Ivy and Ryan will obviously partner up," Zach added with a smirk, ignoring the annoyed look his older brother gave him.
"It was inevitable," Ivy whispered to Ryan, perking him up slightly as his face seemed to lift from the cloud it was under. He smiled at his best friend and nodded.
"Let's beat their asses," Ryan muttered back to Ivy who grinned, not noticing the way she admired his torso. He had discarded his shirt just before they got in the water.
"We're going to partner up," Lily and Grace shouted in unison to no one's surprise.
"Okay," Sam smiled before turning to Chloe. "Chlo who do you want to go with?"
She opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Zach who coughed, "James". It wasn't exactly subtle and Zach immediately had glares coming at him from Chloe and James.
"No," she snapped, lifting her chin in defiance. "I was thinking you Sam."
Sam looked surprised and averted his eyes awkwardly from James who suddenly had a complex expression on his face before he was unreadable. "Um, yeah that's fine."
"Me and Ben will be partners," James suddenly spoke up, surprising his brother who had been sitting by the side of the pool his thin legs dangling in the water.
"Who am I partnering up with then?" Zach asked, looking hurt.
Tyler laughed from where he was watching the young teenagers and jumped in. "I'll partner up with you."
Zach smiled in relief, "thanks dude."
Ben swam over to James who was very quiet. His jaw looked so tight that it might snap any moment.
"If you didn't want to be partners you could have just said," Ben said looking put out.
James blinked and looked at his brother. "No, it's not that," he muttered, shaking his head before chancing a glance at Sam as Chloe climbed onto his shoulders, both of them laughing slightly.
He took a deep breath and turned back to Ben, "listen," he whispered. "We can't let the others win this. Especially Sam and Chloe – "
"Why Sam and – "
"Because they just can't, okay?!" James snapped, before closing his eyes in embarrassment. "Sorry," he coughed awkwardly before helping his little brother on his shoulders. "Just try your best," James called to Ben who nodded his head, narrowing his eyes competitively.
"Dad!" Sam called over to Dustin who lifted his head from the sun lounger. "Will you be our referee? Make sure the Wheeler's don't cheat?" he teased, trying to get James to at least smirk but there was no response from his best friend.
Dustin laughed, "of course buddy." He wasn't the only one to sit on the edge of the pool and watch the kids, practically all of the parents lined up, cheering on their children.
"Ready?" Dustin asked the group, a big childish grin on his face. The teenagers all nodded, Ivy, Ben, Chloe, Lily and Zach secured on the shoulders of Ryan, James, Sam, Grace and Tyler.
"Go!"
James went to move straight towards Chloe and Sam but frowned when they engaged in battle with Lily and Grace. Instead, he had to suddenly turn and battle Zach and Tyler.
"You've got this Ben!" James shouted, water splashing all around him as he tried to plant his feet as best he could in the water. "Just don't let go, I've got you!"
In theory Ben shouldn't be able to beat Zach who was three years old than him, but whether it was because Tyler was taller than James and so Zach had to lean down to wrestle with Ben or just because the youngest Wheeler was quick with his movements, but Zach fell into the water to a cheer from Mike and El who were delighted with their sons.
"Great job!" James shouted to Ben as he turned to find Sam and Chloe. He huffed with frustration when he saw Ivy and Ryan were already wrestling with them, Ivy then managing to push both Chloe and Sam into the water.
The twins had already been taken out by Chloe and Sam and were cheering from the side. It was now down to Ryan and Ivy and Ben and James.
"Remember not to use any of your talents!" Mike shouted to his kids, looking around the deserted pool, thankful for once that the splash park in the next town had taken most of the trade from the Hawkins community pool.
"You can do this Ben!" James shouted as his little brother started wrestling their sister who had a determined grin on her face. He knew that Ben couldn't beat Ivy, even without her powers she was strong. They had all done enough wrestling and fighting at home to know that. But James couldn't help but be proud of Ben who was trying his hardest. He lasted longer than any of them would have thought, until Ivy's strength was a bit too much and ended up tipping both James and Ben backwards.
"Not bad brothers!" Ivy laughed, as the boys emerged from the water, out of breath and panting. Ben grinned, happy with his role as James pushed his dark wavy hair out of his eyes and looked over at Chloe who was watching him. He quickly averted his eyes, his cheeks feeling warm.
"Should we show them how it's really done?" James heard Max shout as she grinned at the fellow adults, wiggling her eyebrows daring them to join in.
"And you won't be sick on me?" Lucas said, eyeing up his wife with concern.
Max laughed, "no I'm good now. I've had the carb overload I needed."
"That's what I'm worried about," Lucas muttered while Max jumped into the water.
"Okay I'll be your ref," Sam called to the adults as he lifted himself onto the side of the pool while the parents partnered up. The rest of the teenagers joined their friends, all curious to see what their parents would be like in this competitive game.
"Place your bets guys," Zach muttered to the others as he watched Max climb onto Lucas's shoulders.
"I think it'll be El and Mike," Lily said, cringing as she watched her parents laughing and kissing before getting into position.
"Yeah, it'll be mom and dad," Ben said grinning as El waved over from Mike's shoulders. She had that competitive smirk on her face that Ben and Ivy shared.
"No, I think it's going to be my mom and dad," Chloe said with a smile. "Mom is the Chief after all."
"Don't underestimate my mom," Ryan laughed, shaking his head at his parents.
Once all the parents were in place, Sam counted down before shouting "go!" and the battle commenced with the kids all cheering on their parents.
The only person who was quiet was James. His eyes were on the match, he watched as Laura and Dustin pushed down Jen and Will, and Max and Robin wrestled, but his heart wasn't in it. He felt strange. He couldn't explain it and he didn't really know why. All he knew was he was…upset. Images played in his head, Chloe's voice echoed around his mind as she told him 'he was just jealous' and how angry her face had been when it was suggested that she partner up with James. That defiant 'no'.
There was booing and cheering that ruptured through James's complex thoughts and he blinked, looking back at the match as Max landed in the pool and then shouted at Lucas who "wasn't holding her tight enough!".
It was down to Robin and Steve, and El and Mike. James tried to break himself out of the rut his thoughts had put him in and cheered on his parents for a change.
"Come on mom!" Ivy shouted, clapping her hands.
"You've got this!" James added, cheering as his mom and Robin laughed and wrestled.
The battle went on for a bit, Mike clenching his teeth as he tried to stop from falling, holding onto El's legs tightly, but Steve was stronger than him, pushing forward through the water until Mike lost his balance, falling backwards.
"Yes!" Robin and Steve cheered while the kids clapped for them. El emerged from the water laughing as she admitted defeat, pulling her slightly annoyed husband along with her. Mike grumbled about losing to Steve who teased him all of the way until they were out of the pool.
"Which loser is buying us ice cream then?" Steve grinned before his mischievous eyes turned on Mike.
"Fine," Mike huffed. "But you can help me carry them."
"Gladly young paladin," Steve bowed as he followed an annoyed Mike.
The sun was slowly moving along the horizon while the group ate their ice creams, Mike cringing slightly from his lounger when he tried to suitably touch his pink legs, hoping no one would notice. Was it a bit too late to bathe them in sun cream?
Sam and Zach sat together finishing off their ice cream, James was still in the water doing lengths of the pool, very much in his own world.
Zach frowned, "what do you think is wrong with him?"
Sam shrugged his shoulders but his eyes showed worry. "I'm not sure…" He glanced over at Chloe who was reading a magazine with the twins. "Maybe it's to do with Chloe," he whispered.
Zach looked clueless for a moment before his eyes widened. "Oh because of the whole Bieblove thing?"
Sam opened his mouth and shut it again. He was pretty sure that wasn't bothering his best friend right now, but he didn't want to say anything that could be incorrect, but Sam had his own suspicions.
Zach seemed to take Sam's lack of a response as an answer. "I know what would cheer him up," he said with a slight smile before calling out to James.
When James didn't appear to hear him, Zach reached for the beach ball and threw it at their best friend who spluttered and stopped swimming, looking over at the boys with surprise and mild frustration.
"What?!" he called.
"Just come here," Zach shouted, ushering him over.
James sighed but did as he was told, swimming over to the boys who both leaned down slightly so they could talk quietly.
"Look," Zach started, his voice just above a whisper. "You seem down man, and I have just the idea to cheer you up."
"You do?" James asked, raising his eyebrow. Sam noticed that he didn't deny he was feeling upset.
"We said we were going to investigate if 'you know who' is Bieblove right?"
"Yeah," James said warily, his eyes betraying him for a moment as he saw the girl in question. She wasn't looking over; she was quite happily chatting away with his cousins.
Zach looked around for a moment at the adults and then turned back to James, his gaze going between him and Sam. "Well, why don't we investigate right now?"
James frowned, shaking his head. "I don't know man."
"Oh come on!" Zach smiled, trying to encourage his friend. "I think it would cheer you up, we might even get to the bottom of this investigation and you won't have to wonder if it's her or not."
James hesitated, his brow creasing as he tried to think of what was best. He looked at Sam, "what do you think?"
Sam rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I mean…it would be good to finally solve this mystery. And who knows, maybe she'll wanna play with us rather than against us and we might have a shot at winning for a change."
"That's true," Zach nodded. "Come on man, I know you're dying to know."
James wavered after a moment, heaving a breath. "How would we even do this?"
Sam appeared to be in deep thought for a moment before smiling slightly. "What if I just ask Steve if we can go over to his house to shoot hoops or something?"
"But we'd need the key for the house," James reminded him quietly.
"Um," Sam frowned, the cogs in his brain working before he laughed. "I'll say we need the key in case we need to take a leak or something."
"I think that might work," Zach smirked, looking over at Steve who was goading Mike about winning the game of chicken. "Go ask him now while he's in a good mood."
Sam pulled his legs out of the pool and stumbled to his feet, hurrying over to Steve. James and Zach watched him with baited breath. There really was nothing to worry about though because Steve was nodding and smiling, pulling his keys out of his jacket pocket, clearly trusting his god son.
Sam walked back to the boys with a jubilant smile on his face, he spun the key around his finger. "Easy!"
"We've got a mystery to solve," Zach said with a grin as he stood up and grabbed his shirt.
James couldn't help but laugh, pulling himself out of the pool. Maybe this was a good idea, it would certainly distract him and hopefully shed some light on the whole mystery of Bieblove. Was it Chloe? And if so, why was she hiding it?
The water rippled as Ivy dived into the pool, emerging with a splutter and laugh as she pushed her dark hair out of her eyes. "I told you to hold me steady!" she giggled.
Ryan grinned, "I'm sorry I'm not a cheerleader, okay?!"
Ivy laughed, "neither am I! But you can be in the water. Come on, let's try it again."
Ryan rolled his eyes playfully, but did as he was told, cupping his hands together as Ivy placed her foot in his palm and on three lifted herself up. She tried to do a stand, even kicking her leg out before she lost her balance and fell back into the water.
"You know, if you lived in San Diego, you could use our pool every weekend." Ryan teased once Ivy had come up to the water surface.
"Only every weekend?!" she joked back, gasping in mock surprise.
Ryan grinned, "you know you would be more than welcome to come over every day. But you'd have to choose California for college. Not that I'm trying to bribe you or anything…"
Ivy laughed, narrowing her eyes mischievously. "Shame on you Ryan Sinclair."
Her best friend shrugged his shoulders innocently and smiled as he started to swim, Ivy joining him. "But seriously," he asked her after a moment of quiet swimming. "Have you thought about where you want to go to college?"
"Oh definitely," Ivy admitted, a slight smile on her lips as she looked ahead at the water, moving her arms with purpose as they stroked through the water. "And California is definitely up there. Mom and dad both went to college in California and you live there so…"
Ryan didn't say anything but the smile on his face was so wide that even though he tried to hide it in the water, he was positive it would be seen from his home state.
"I will apply," Ivy said as they reached the other side of the pool, resting against the cold tiles for a moment. "But I might defer."
"Defer?" Ryan asked with interest, his back against the pool wall as he looked at his best friend.
"Yeah," Ivy admitted with a shy smile. "I like the idea of travelling. Maybe...I don't know, if you don't have any college plans yet, you could travel with me?"
Ryan felt warmth rush through his body at the prospect of travelling with Ivy. In truth he didn't have college plans yet and so the idea of travelling with his best friend, who also happened to be the girl he was mad about, was a dream come true.
"I suppose I could put up with you," Ryan reasoned while Ivy splashed him. "Where would we go?" he couldn't help but ask eagerly as Ivy lifted herself onto the edge of the pool.
"Wherever the wind takes us," she laughed, grabbing her towel and standing up to dry off.
Ryan couldn't stop from smiling, it felt like it would never leave his face and he would just have to get used to the ache in his cheek bones. Because Ivy made him happier than he had ever been in his life and the fact that she wanted to spend even more time with him? Explore other countries, just the two of them? It was monumental.
"Give me a hand?" Ryan asked reaching out his hand for Ivy, who rolled her eyes but took his hand, screaming the next minute when he pulled her back into the pool.
Ryan was laughing so much that he barely heard Ivy's gasped "why would I want to go travelling with you?!"
He grinned, unable to stop his giggles as he helped her push her smooth dark hair out of her eyes. "because I'm your favorite person."
"I am doubting that decision," Ivy commented before splashing Ryan and running away from him, giggling and screaming when he caught up to her and twirled her around.
The teenagers were so wrapped up in the moment they didn't realize they were being watched by their parents. El looked at Max and both moms grinned, sighing almost in unison.
"Are we going to have trouble with those two?" Lucas grinned, turning to look at Mike who was watching the kids laughing. The smile on Ivy's face was brighter than he had ever seen, the water might have sparkled from the sun, but it was nothing compared to his daughter.
"I hope not," Mike admitted, smiling despite himself. "They do look happy."
"They remind me of teenage Mike and El," Lucas snorted making Mike cringe and turn to his best friend.
"Don't say that."
"It's the truth man," Lucas smirked, crushing his can and walking towards the sun loungers.
"What do you mean by that," Mike muttered following his best friend who was laughing at him with pity. "Lucas? Lucas?!"
The wide stair case of the Harrington house creaked slightly as Zach, Sam and James hurried upstairs, slightly out of breath from their partial run to the house that was 10 minutes away from the community pool.
"We seriously need to get fit," Sam muttered wiping his sweaty brow.
"You should join track then," James whispered, the only one not out of breath.
"Why are we even whispering?" Zach murmured back, "it's not like anyone is here."
"Good point," James and Sam said in unison as they reached the top of the stairs and looked around the landing.
"Which is Chloe's room again?" Zach frowned, glancing at the doors. It had been a while since he had been at this house.
"This one," Sam said, pointing at the door to the right. When Zach gave him a raised eyebrow, Sam blushed. "I've grown up with her man! Her dad is my god father."
"I suppose," Zach smirked.
James didn't say anything but hurried forward to the bedroom door before hesitating, looking back at his best friends. "Are we sure about this?"
Sam huffed out of breath and shrugged his shoulders, "we've come this far man."
James bit his lip and turned back to the bedroom door pushing it open slightly. The boys hurried in but then paused, taking the room in for a moment. To no surprise there was posters on the wall of Justin Bieber, One Direction and Taylor Swift. But it was the small things that surprised James, like the soft green color of her walls. Was that her favorite color? There was a guitar leaning against Chloe's desk and a large picture board above her laptop covered in family photographs.
There were photos with some of her friends too where she smiled so brightly. She looked pretty when she smiled like that. Really pretty.
"Ooh look it's you James!" Zach teased, causing him to jump out of his daze and follow Zach's finger to a photo of Chloe smiling with Ivy, James, Ben and Tyler.
"That's a family photo idiot!" James huffed, shaking his head as he looked around at the room again. "Where do we even start?"
Sam was already looking at Chloe's tv, trying to see if he could see any leads for the Xbox. "Try looking in her closet or under her bed," he suggested.
Zach immediately dropped to the floor and army crawled towards the bed as if they were on a real secret mission, while James cautiously opened Chloe's closet, the smell of her clean clothes hitting him for a moment as he tried to blink and search underneath the various shoes that were littered at the bottom.
James didn't know how long they looked but it was getting frustration. "We may as well just go because we're not going to find anything."
"Just a bit longer," Zach frowned trying to reach the shelves of the closet. "There's got to be more evidence than a Justin Bieber poster!"
"Don't you mean five Justin Bieber posters," Sam smiled as he looked through Chloe's DVD's hoping to find an Xbox game hidden inside.
"James give me a boost," Zach called to his friend who timidly joined him, just about to lift his foot when someone cleared their throat.
Sam, James and Zach all froze, slowly turning towards the door where Tyler Harrington was leaning against the frame with his arms crossed. His face was a mixture of surprise, amazement and something James had never seen in him before. But he would call it protective brother mode.
"Dudes, what the hell are you doing?"
The boys looked at each other, all speechless for a moment, James still holding onto Zach's leg until he realized what he was doing and quickly let go.
"Wh-What are you doing back?" Zach asked Tyler trying to deflect.
"We're all heading back here for a barbeque, dad asked me to come back to light it. But more importantly, what are you guys doing in here? In my little sister's room? If you're here to blackmail Chloe, I can assure you as her brother I'm the only person allowed to do that."
Uh oh, protective brother mode was definitely initiated.
"We're not trying to blackmail her," James insisted feeling sheepish.
"It's kind of embarrassing," Sam admitted. "We're sort of on a mission." His eyes lit up as a thought came to mind. "Hey! You might actually be able to help us!"
"How so?" Tyler asked, looking intrigued, his guard coming down slightly.
"Do you have an Xbox Tyler? Or does Chloe?"
Tyler frowned, clearly confused by their question and not expecting this to be where the conversation had taken them. "Chloe doesn't have an Xbox. I don't have one anymore either, I'm too busy with the ladies."
Zach huffed in frustration, "do you have an old one then?"
"Yeah somewhere," Tyler sighed, the smart phone in his denim jacket suddenly started to ring.
"Where is it now?!" James asked desperately.
Tyler shrugged, "I don't know man," he said as he pulled out his phone, his lips curving into a smile as he saw the name coming up on his phone. "Excuse me guys," he looked up at the boys. "Oh, and get out of my sister's room before I beat your asses."
He turned, a murmured "hey baby," coming out of his mouth as he walked towards the stairs with the phone against his ear.
James sighed, turning to his friends. "He's right, we need to get out of here. Especially if they're on the way."
"Yeah," Sam sighed in defeat, looking around the room to try and make sure everything was how they left it. "Wasn't that pillow a bit straighter?" he commented, pointing to the yellow patterned pillow case closer to Zach, who picked it up to adjust.
The three boys paused as they stared at what was under Chloe's pillow. It was what looked like her journal and the yearbook, open on the page that James had signed. He was pretty sure he hadn't added the hearts around his name. His cheeks immediately went bright red as Zach noticed and burst out laughing.
"Oh my god this is brilliant," Zach grinned almost close to tears. "Jackpot!" he shouted chucking Chloe's journal at James who caught it awkwardly.
"I am not reading this!" James shouted trying to offer it back to Zach who had picked up the year book.
"Dude that probably has the answer to whether Chloe is bieblove or not!"
"I am not reading it," James said through clenched teeth. He felt suddenly boiling hot with embarrassment. Did he think it might have the answer to the mystery? Of course it probably did. But it might have other stuff in it too, stuff that Sam or Zach wouldn't let go of and definitely tease James about. If the red hearts on the yearbook were anything to go by, the journal would be much, much worse.
"Please, let's just put them back," James whispered, practically sweating as he thrusted the journal at Zach.
"Fine," Zach huffed, reaching for the journal, his eyes suddenly going wide as he looked over James's shoulder.
The tension in the room suddenly rose to something cold and deadly and James didn't want to move. From Zach's reaction and Sam's gasped breath he knew exactly who was going to be standing there when he turned around.
Struggling to gulp down the ball of anxiety that had suddenly filled his throat, James slowly turned, time seemed to go into slow motion as he stared into the confused eyes of Chloe.
She was stood in the door way, her hand dropping her bag to the floor as her eyes went from the open yearbook in Zach's hand to the journal in James's. Her eyes widened and as they suddenly filled with embarrassment, despair and what looked like tears, James felt something inside of him break as he was suddenly filled with immense guilt and remorse.
"Chloe it's not – " James began, but she cut him off.
"Get out of my room," she whispered, her whole body shaking as she moved her stare onto the bed, her eyes had glazed over and it was like she was willing herself not to be in this moment.
James tried again as Sam and Zach seemed to be frozen in horror. "Chloe if you just – "
"No," she said fiercely, her face so hurt that James could barely look at her. "Get out! All of you. I never want to see any of you again!"
Sam looked just as devastated and hurried out, "Chloe I'm so sorry," he mumbled in embarrassment as Zach followed him, quickly dropping the year book on the carpet and hurrying after Sam, also trying to apologize to the shaking girl who was having none of it.
James tried to stay there, even know he was completely embarrassed and incredibly uncomfortable, he could read on Chloe's face what he had caused in her and he was wracked with pain over it. She needed to know he hadn't read her journal.
"Chloe please, we didn't read your journal, I swear – "
"But I bet you all laughed over my year book! And I bet you were just about to read my journal!" she accused him, her voice shaking.
"We…we weren't, I pro – "
"Just get out," she sniffled, looking away from James, her arms wrapped around her shaking body.
"If I can just explain – "
Chloe turned on the spot to glare at James, her eyes now filled with tears. "No! I'm just a joke to you and I always have been! GET OUT!"
James opened his mouth to speak, his heart beating so fast he thought it would rip out of his chest any second. He closed his mouth knowing that whatever he said to her, she wasn't going to believe him. He placed the journal on the bed and left her room, his head low in shame.
He reached the landing and turned around, wanting to tell her he was sorry, but he was met with a slammed door.
James slumped onto the top steps next to Zach and Sam. The boys were all quiet for a while, completely shaken by what had just happened. There was hustle and bustle happening in the rest of the house, the smell of the barbeque being lit hit the teenage boys' nostrils, and the laughter from the back yard could be heard anytime some one opened the sliding doors to get another drink.
"I'm really sorry guys," Zach finally mumbled, shaking his head. "This is totally my fault. I was only joking about reading her journal. I never would have, I just thought it was funny."
"I feel so guilty," Sam whispered, looking over at Chloe's closed bedroom and frowning deeply. "She's like my sister." He bit his lip and sighed getting up, "I'm gonna go and apologize."
Only Sam was back a moment later, looking more defeated than ever. "I couldn't go in there," he admitted sitting back down. "I could hear her crying."
James cringed at Sam's comment, his stomach tightening the knots that had coiled in place. "I don't know what to do," he finally admitted, his voice slightly croaky.
Sam sighed, "I think we just need to give her some time to calm down, and then we can explain what we were doing."
"Yeah," Zach nodded solemnly. "And when she's ready to come out I doubt she wants to see us idiots sitting on her stairs."
"True," Sam agreed, heaving a breath. He looked at the other two, "come on, let's give her some space."
James stayed sat as his two best friends stood up, both looking at him questioningly. "Just give me a bit more time," he told them, looking down at his clasped hands. "I'll see you guys in a bit."
They didn't argue this and left, taking their time down the stairs before going into the garden. James didn't know how long he was sat there, nervously watching Chloe's door, unsure what to do or how to act.
Her words 'I'm just a joke to you and I always have been!' tormented James. He shifted uneasily and tried to think if he had treated her badly in the past. He had always felt uncomfortable around her, mostly because the rumors that she had a crush on him. He had never known what to do with that knowledge and he couldn't see more than the girl that was weird around him. Hell, he didn't even know her favorite color. Except for her taste in music, James really knew nothing about Chloe. He supposed he had never really taken the time to learn or ask her.
His painful thoughts were broken by the arrival of Ivy who was walking up the stairs and looking at him suspiciously. "What have you done?" she asked with narrowed eyes.
For once James didn't feel up to arguing with her, he caught his sister's gaze and noticed it soften for a moment. That was until he explained what had happened and Ivy closed her eyes and pinched her nose.
"You're an idiot," she sighed, before telling James to go and join the others. He watched her knock at Chloe's door, telling the young girl who it was and going into the bedroom, closing the door firmly, not before James caught a glimpse of Chloe lying on her bed, his stomach tightening even more with guilt.
He eventually joined the others outside, sitting on the decking with a cold soda and batting away questions from his dad who asked him if he was okay.
"I'm fine," James said shortly, gulping down his soda and moving away.
Ivy eventually came out and made a beeline for her brother. James felt his palms becoming sweaty, terrified what she was going to say.
"She's really upset," Ivy said sternly, crossing her arms and looking at her ashamed brother. "Whether you read her journal or not, what you guys did was wrong. It was a complete invasion of privacy."
"I know," James cringed barely able to look Ivy in the eye. "We were just trying to figure out if she was keeping a secret from us."
"You could have just asked her," Ivy scolded him. Shaking her head, she continued, "look, you're not going to get a chance to apologize tonight because Chloe's telling Robin that she feels sick and doesn't want to join the barbeque."
"Oh," James muttered, feeling even worse that Chloe was not going to join her family and friends for food.
"But you need to apologize the first chance you get James. You've all hurt her, especially you."
"Why especially me?"
Ivy stared at him for a moment like it was obvious, "I think you know why."
James said nothing, his whole body feeling exhausted, both emotionally and physically. Even though he hated Ivy scolding him, he knew she was right. He tried to see it from Chloe's point of view and he knew she needed not only an explanation but a sincere apology. He only hoped she would give him the chance.
AN: To be continued! Thank you for reading :-)